(From when I was four and was always allowed to mix my own cocoa when we visited one of my great-aunts, which was quite a lot as she lives in the same town as my parents. The illusion is actually named after that brand of cocoa, here.)

I was just going to comment on your other post and say – Nice! Creative idea and I think the illustration + photos combo works well (in some cases it doesn't, but I think you pulled it off). Did you draw the backpack, or is it stock?

It is stock with some tweaks: It was bubblegum pink, too squat, and had no handle, tag or luggage tag. But, it had the lines I wanted, so I bought the vector (After trying for an hour or two and still having very little presentable, I got the brilliant idea to check stock.)

I need to take a drawing class!

Still, I'm happy with it. I hate the mail area, but what can one do. There are so many regs. I hope this passes muster for Non-profit.

They really love the pictures of their classes--every time I've done a completely illustrated cover or a nature photo (they used to go with those) or something, they nix it.

Odd thing is, they don't really have many pictures of the actual classes, so slowly the bad ones they do have are being replaced by stock.

Stock with tweaks is what I do pretty much all the time. I mean, I can draw (although my Illustrator skillz are meh) but if someone else has already done it, why spend all that time recreating something? Ya know?

Mail regs are annoying, yes. I used to have to deal with those a lot more often.

Thank goodness when I do stuff for my college, they have a really good database of actual class photos. That's cause they have a full time photographer. But honestly happy students on a class catalogue is a bit cliche – I'd be with you on the nature or illustration or something different.

Who do you like for stock? I use iStock and StockExpert b/c I'm cheap like that.

This is a community ed program, so it's not the whole college, and it's people of all ages, so the College's photos don't really work.

I did manage the whole college's catalog last spring and we tried to get some more creative pics--all kinds of feet. People looking over a bouquet of sharpened pencils. Etc.

People in my program are pretty snooty about stock, but as you said, why reinvent the wheel? Or why not use the rim and the hub caps at the very least. :) Plus, when you buy vector, you can edit it at will.

I'm all over the cheap stock sites. I've mostly used iStock but am switching over to StockXpert more because iStock keeps raising their rates. Ooh, and here's an excellent compilation of free/cheap stock sites: http://www.powstock.com/ I'm investigating the Dreamtime linked there but I don't like it as well as StockXpert, so far.

I love the cheap sites because they have such variety.

I've run into the snootiness about stock as well and I can't understand it. It comes from the same attitude that thinks you can only be a Real Designer if you work for a big-time agency or charge $100000 for a logo design. Well, who cares, because I am happy being a small-time designer – and that means I don't have the resources to do my own custom photography (in most cases) or hire an illustrator. So I use stock.